Guide catheters may be used in medical catheterization procedures to provide a passageway through which diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices and/or agents may be introduced into a patient's body. In intravascular and coronary applications, some such medical devices may include balloon dilation catheters, guide wires, or other therapeutic devices.
For treatment of certain diseases or conditions, a guide catheter may be inserted into the femoral artery via an introducer sheath and advanced to a target location. An introducer sheath is a device that may be used to access and exchange guide wires and catheters into a bodily lumen. A therapeutic device may be deployed at the target location to perform a desired medical procedure. Once the procedure is completed, the guide catheter and the introducer sheath are removed from the patient.
Catheter placement may have associated risks such as internal bleeding or patient discomfort. Radial and/or brachial approaches have been developed which may reduce these risks. However, there may be certain challenges associated with the radial approach of catheterization. The radial artery is thinner than the femoral artery, and the previously available guide catheters and introducer sheaths may have a larger profile that may not be suitable for insertion into the radial artery. Additionally, guide catheters with a smaller profile may have a smaller inner diameter that may not be sufficient for introduction of the therapeutic device(s).
In some cases, a physician may need to steer the guide catheter through a tortuous path to reach a target location. Additionally, a steerable guide catheter may reduce the number of times an operator needs to exchange the guide catheter, thereby reducing overall procedural time and cost. Some available guide catheters may include steering wires disposed along the outer or the inner surfaces of the guide catheter. Such designs may increase the wall thickness of the guide catheter, thereby increasing its profile and/or reducing the inner lumen diameter. Guide catheters with a larger profile may require a large entry point hole that might not be suitable for the radial approach.
Hence, there is a need for a steerable guide catheter with a small profile.